Anti-Doping Rules in Germany: An Overview

Germany has one of the strictest anti-doping laws in Europe. Since 2015 a separate law has been in force here, providing criminal liability not only for suppliers but also for top-level athletes themselves who resort to doping. The editorial team has prepared an overview of the German system: who controls it, what exactly is prohibited by law and how this differs from the rules of other countries.

Historical context and legal basis

Germany's attitude to doping was largely shaped by history. The East German state doping program, under which thousands of athletes, including minors, were given anabolic steroids without their consent, had grave health consequences for many people. After the country's reunification these facts became the subject of court trials, and the topic of doping acquired particular social significance.

For a long time the fight against doping in Germany relied on the Medicinal Products Act (Arzneimittelgesetz). It gained a separate provision prohibiting the circulation of medicinal products for the purpose of doping in sport, and later also a ban on possessing an “insignificant quantity” of certain substances above set limits.

The next step was a separate Act against Doping in Sport (Gesetz gegen Doping im Sport, abbreviated AntiDopG), adopted in December 2015. It consolidated and expanded the previous provisions and, most importantly, introduced criminal liability for so-called self-doping by top-level athletes.

Like most countries, Germany ratified the Council of Europe Anti-Doping Convention and the UNESCO Convention, and its sports organizations recognize the WADA Code. That is why two systems operate in the country in parallel: the sports-disciplinary and the criminal-law.

NADA and the organization of doping control

Germany's National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) was founded in 2002 and is based in Bonn. It is an independent foundation and is responsible for planning testing, results management, educational programs and prevention. The agency's rules are enshrined in the National Anti-Doping Code (NADA-Code), which implements the WADA Code.

NADA maintains registered testing pools, and athletes in these pools are obliged to report their whereabouts through the ADAMS system. Testing is conducted both at competitions and out of competition, with the collection of urine and blood samples, and also using the athlete biological passport.

The agency is also responsible for reviewing therapeutic use exemption requests for national-level athletes. For international-level athletes, TUEs are issued, as a rule, by the international federation.

Two WADA-accredited anti-doping laboratories operate in Germany — in Cologne and in Kreischa near Dresden. The Cologne laboratory at the German Sport University is among the most renowned in the world and has made a significant contribution to developing methods for detecting anabolic steroids.

The AntiDopG law: what is prohibited

The AntiDopG law distinguishes two groups of prohibitions. The first concerns all persons without exception: it is prohibited to manufacture, trade, sell, transfer, prescribe and administer doping agents to other persons for the purpose of doping in sport. It is also prohibited to acquire, possess or import certain substances in a quantity exceeding the “insignificant”.

The concept of an “insignificant quantity” is specified in a separate ordinance (Dopingmittel-Mengen-Verordnung), which sets threshold values for particular substances — anabolic agents, hormones, peptides and so on. Exceeding the threshold in itself indicates criminally significant possession, even if the person is not an athlete and does not take part in competitions.

The second group of prohibitions concerns the athletes themselves — and this is the law's main innovation. Top-level athletes are prohibited from using doping in order to gain an advantage in competitions of organized sport. This provision covers athletes who belong to a testing pool, as well as those who derive significant income from sporting activity.

For this same category of athletes it is prohibited to acquire or possess doping agents even in an insignificant quantity, if the aim is self-doping. That is, for an ordinary person the quantity threshold matters, but for a top-level athlete it does not.

For other people, for example gym-goers who do not take part in organized sport at a high level, the personal use of substances in itself is not a criminal offense under the AntiDopG. However, possession above the thresholds, purchase for the purpose of transfer and import remain prohibited.

Punishments and sports sanctions

For the basic offenses the law provides imprisonment for up to three years or a fine. For aggravated cases — for example, when doping is administered to minors, a danger is created to the health of a large number of people, the activity is conducted as part of a gang or for the purpose of systematic enrichment — the term of punishment can reach ten years of imprisonment.

Self-doping by a top-level athlete is punishable by imprisonment or a fine, and the law also provides criminal liability for an attempt. The legislator's logic is that self-doping at the level of professional sport violates the integrity of competition and harms honest rivals, organizers and sponsors.

• Criminal consequences:a fine or imprisonment, confiscation of substances and proceeds.
• Sports consequences:disqualification under the WADA Code, annulment of results, return of prize money.
• Professional consequences:loss of contracts, sponsors, funding from the state or the army, where many athletes serve.

Sports sanctions are imposed independently of the criminal case. The base period of disqualification under the WADA Code for an intentional violation, and also for the use of a “non-specified” substance if the athlete does not prove the absence of intent, is four years. Criminal and disciplinary proceedings can be conducted in parallel, and the outcome of one does not automatically determine the outcome of the other.

The law also aims to facilitate the exchange of information between the prosecutor's office and NADA. Data obtained in the course of a criminal investigation can be transferred to the anti-doping agency for sports proceedings, which strengthens the effectiveness of the fight against supply networks.

Sports arbitration justice and the athlete's rights

Anti-doping disputes in Germany are heard mainly in the German Sports Arbitration at the German Arbitration Institution (DIS), and in international-level cases in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne. The AntiDopG law directly allows sports organizations to require athletes' consent to arbitration.

This topic is closely connected with the case of the German speed skater Claudia Pechstein. For years she challenged her disqualification in state courts, arguing that mandatory arbitration violated her rights. In 2018 the European Court of Human Rights, in the case “Mutu and Pechstein v. Switzerland”, recognized that the CAS is generally an independent body but found a violation of the right to a public hearing.

An athlete in the German system has the right to defense counsel, to access to the case materials, to analysis of sample B and to appeal the decision. In criminal proceedings the general guarantees apply, in particular the right not to testify against oneself — unlike in sports proceedings, where refusal to cooperate may have negative consequences.

For foreign athletes who live, train or compete in Germany, these rules apply in full. Ukrainian athletes who belong to testing pools and meet the criteria of a “top-level athlete” must take into account that in Germany doping can become not only a sports matter but also a criminal one.

Editorial conclusions

Germany combines the classic sports system based on the WADA Code and NADA with the strict criminal law AntiDopG, adopted in 2015.

The law prohibits the circulation of doping agents for everyone, sets thresholds of “insignificant quantity” for possession, and criminalizes self-doping by top-level athletes.

Criminal and sports sanctions are applied in parallel, and disputes are heard in sports arbitration, whose role was confirmed by ECtHR case law.

We also recommend reading our materials on anti-doping rules in Poland, on the legal status of anabolic steroids in EU countries, and on the health risks of self-administering steroids.

References

1. Gesetz gegen Doping im Sport (Anti-Doping-Gesetz – AntiDopG) vom 10. Dezember 2015. Bundesgesetzblatt. 2015; Teil I.
2. Verordnung zur Festlegung der nicht geringen Menge von Dopingmitteln (Dopingmittel-Mengen-Verordnung – DmMV). Berlin: Bundesministerium für Gesundheit.
3. Nationale Anti Doping Agentur Deutschland. Nationaler Anti-Doping Code (NADA-Code). Bonn: NADA; 2021.
4. World Anti-Doping Agency. World Anti-Doping Code 2021. Montreal: WADA; 2021.
5. European Court of Human Rights. Mutu and Pechstein v. Switzerland, nos. 40575/10 and 67474/10. Judgment of 2 October 2018.
6. Franke WW, Berendonk B. Hormonal doping and androgenization of athletes: a secret program of the German Democratic Republic government. Clin Chem. 1997;43(7):1262–1279.